


Check Me Out

by quartetship



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, 進撃！巨人中学校 | Shingeki! Kyojin Chuugakkou | Attack on Titan: Junior High
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, College Student Eren Yeager, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-14 23:24:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7195484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartetship/pseuds/quartetship
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren didn't like the library, because he really didn't like <i>people.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Check Me Out

**Author's Note:**

> My very first atempt at Eren/Armin, and tumblr user [firegrilled](firegrilled.tumblr.com) is entirely to blame, for giving me this adorable prompt. Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy!
> 
> \--

Eren absolutely _abhorred_ the library. 

Not because he didn't like reading - although his roommate Jean was known to crack a few jokes about his apparent illiteracy, given how few books he actually kept in their apartment. Rather, Eren hated the _public_ library, because even the name gave him reason to cringe. He didn't like dealing with crowds, clawing his way through throngs of people like he was usually forced to do at school and on the streets of his hometown. The library was just a smaller, more boring version of that same feeling. Every wall and shelf and seat and screen was surrounded by people, utilizing one of the dozens of free resources there, and Eren tended to shell out money to use those same services elsewhere, if it meant avoiding the masses, altogether. 

Eren didn't like the library, because he really didn't like _people._

Problem was, one of his classes had saddled him with an assignment that made heading to the local library mandatory; that was the entire task. Eren had seriously considered taking a zero to avoid going, but with his grades that semester already sitting at a solid mediocre, he couldn't really afford to blow off homework for reasons of personal preference and comfort. 

So he made the trek downtown. 

It would be quick, he promised himself. In and out, ten minutes, tops, just long enough to check out a book or a movie, and take note of what was available there. Just get the worksheet for his class filled out and finished, and he would be on the next bus back to his apartment, worry free.

But the library was crowded, as usual. The line just to check something out stretched nearly all the way around the elliptical circulation desk, and even if he joined it right that moment, it would likely take him twenty minutes just to get on his way again. It appeared that the reason for the holdup was new staff; Eren spotted an older employee slowly returning items to the shelves, while a bright-eyed, obviously new clerk helped the people behind the desk. He was soft spoken but cheerful, treating every person that stepped in front of him with equal enthusiasm and patience. He was painfully chipper, obvious even from across the room.

And he was really fucking cute. 

Eren did what any mature, respectable adult would do, and immediately hid behind a high book shelf, peeking between the spines of books to get a better look at the librarian. He was short, maybe a few inches more so than Eren, and slender, with delicate features and pale skin that matched the wispy blond hair that fell just to his shoulders. Part of it was tied at the back of his head, and a pair of thin glasses rested on his nose; he pushed them up a fraction of an inch every few minutes as he hummed quietly, attending to his work. 

Eren watched him for a few moments, or maybe longer - all he could be sure of was that it was more than long enough for the librarian to finish what he was working on and return to his seat, face lit gently by the computer screen as he smiled placidly. 

He had to talk to him, had to find out if he had a girlfriend or boyfriend, had to ask him if he'd _like_ to. But first he would need to work up the courage to approach him, and that meant wading out of the swamps of crowded shelves he was lurking in. He waited until it seemed that no one else was likely to cut him off on his way to the circulation desk, and then made his approach. 

The boy behind the desk was as observant as he was friendly. As soon as he spotted Eren heading in what could vaguely be considered his direction, he piped up with a greeting. “Hello! Can I help you with anything?”

“Yeah, I was just wondering if you were… If you would…” Up close, the clerk was even more attractive, distractingly, _unnervingly_ so. Eren’s throat threatened to close on him, hitters getting the best of him. Forgetting his resolve, he chickened out entirely. “I-If you'd like to… Help me find a book?”

“Oh, of course!” The librarian drew up taller, still obviously shorter than Eren at his full height, and pulled up a blank screen with a waiting search bar, before looking back at Eren with a wide smile. “What sort of book do you need?”

“I need to find something about….” Eren’s eyes scanned the room for anything that might give him a reasonable topic for his feigned research. He could have chosen almost anything, given the extremely general task he was actually assigned. But he lost his grip on common sense, flustered as he was, and blurted out the first thing his eyes landed on. “Trash cans! For, uh… For a class.”

Biting his lip -  _ adorably _ \- the librarian nodded slowly. “Alright. Well, what specifically do you need to research? I might have something for you.”

Faced with the options of either admitting to his bullshit or creating more, Eren dove deeper into the mounting pile of untruths. “I, uh, I need to know how much trash gets thrown away in the United States, and like… Recycling and stuff.”

“Oh, alright! So looking more for ecology resources, then. Follow me.” With that, the ridiculously cute circulation clerk headed toward a nearby wing marked ‘Nonfiction’, and Eren followed closely behind, mentally kicking himself, the whole way. 

That night, Eren returned home with a thick stack of books geared toward ecology classes - classes he wasn't taking, and never had been. He flipped idly through them, as if they might be able to give him the answer as to how he'd screwed up a seemingly simple task so spectacularly. Setting them aside, he resolved to return to the library the following day to actually complete his assignment, hoping the bubbly blond librarian would be working, again. 

“Hey again.” Eren said, as soon as he'd walked through the library’s main entrance. No one lose looked up from what they were doing, save for the one person he was actually addressing; the cute boy behind the desk glanced upward and beamed when Eren caught his eye.

“Hi! Find everything you needed yesterday?”

Eren laughed anxiously. “Uh, yeah. Well, no, actually. I got kind of sidetracked, and forgot - there was something else I wanted to ask you about.”

“Oh?” He leaned forward slightly, chin in one hand as he put his weight on that elbow, looking back at Eren with an expectant smile. Eren swallowed hard.

“Yeah, uh. Do you…” He was only a breath away from asking what he wanted to, but with the librarian’s unfairly pretty blue eyes so close to Eren’s face, he found it hard to keep his nerve up. Once again, his eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape route. He settled on the racks of movies a few yards away, as his out. “Do you guys loan out movies and stuff, too?”

“Of course,” the librarian replied cheerfully, though something in his expression looked a little confused, maybe even disappointed. “We have entertainment DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as documentaries. What can I help you find?” 

Defeated, Eren went home that afternoon with a selection of documentaries, on topics ranging from giant squids to genetically modified vegetables. As the library faded into the background of the horizon behind him, he wondered if there were any films on the topic of how to get his head out of his ass and his foot out of his mouth long enough to potentially get a date.

At least he had enough information to finally fill out his worksheet, but that wasn't even a concern, anymore. 

As the days rolled by, his luck didn't improve. Despite near _daily_ visits to the library, he never left with a phone number or even a formal introduction to the beautiful blond behind the counter. What he did end up with was a massive stack of books on subjects he'd never read, half a score of movies he would never watch, and several video games from the children's section. He thought he'd reached the pinnacle of his embarrassment when he let himself be tongue-tripped into asking to check out _‘My Little Pony, The Magical Friendship Game’,_ but collapsing onto the back seat of the city bus, he noticed _two_ checkout receipts tucked into his bag, instead of one. On one, his mortifying list of recently borrowed items was detailed, but on the other, nothing was printed, save for a few lines of handwritten text, beginning with a phone number, followed by a short note.

_ My name is Armin, and you're really cute. Let me know if you'd like to meet up somewhere other than the circulation desk, sometime.  _

Eren groaned, more embarrassed than he'd ever been, but peeked from between the hand he’d slapped over his eyes in frustration to check the number again before adding it to his contacts. 

  
At least now, he wouldn't have to return to the library, but with Armin’s face in his mind and his name on his tongue, he _almost_ wouldn't have minded to. 


End file.
